Chapter 34
The drive back felt longer than the frantic trip north. Cara drove the church van alone, windows cracked despite the cold to air out the beer smell soaking her clothes. In the rearview mirror, Gabe's SUV followed, Wade's truck behind him. A small convoy heading back to Haven Cove.
Adrenaline faded, leaving exhaustion and the reality of what had just happened. She'd run a con. Become Carly Reid again. Walked into danger and talked her way out using skills she'd sworn to bury.
And it had felt terrifyingly natural.
The familiar phrases. The calculated eye contact. Reading Levinger and his men, finding exactly the right performance to sell. Six months of trying to be Cara Sweet, and one crisis had pulled Carly Reid right back to the surface like she'd never left.
Lord, I know that's not who You want me to be. But I couldn't watch him die.
The prayer felt inadequate. Justification wrapped in desperation.
And it didn’t matter now. Only Gabe’s brother mattered.
She needed to call Tom. Get everyone to the bakery. They'd need the whole team for whatever came next.
Cara pulled out her phone and dialed one-handed, eyes on the dark highway.
Tom answered on the second ring. "Cara? Everything okay?"
"We're heading back. Can you get everyone to the bakery? Reagan, Piper, everyone."
"What happened?" His voice sharpened with concern.
"We found David." She paused, throat tight. "But it's bad, Tom. Really bad."
"How bad?"
"He's alive. But he's been kidnapped. They gave Gabe twenty-four hours to leave town or they kill him."
Silence on the line. Then: "I'll make the calls. We'll be there in twenty minutes."
The call ended.
Cara focused on the dark highway, fog creeping in from the ocean.
Her hands trembled on the wheel. She forced herself to breathe—in for four counts, hold for four, out for four. The combat breathing technique her father had taught her when panic threatened to overwhelm.
David was captive somewhere, bruised and exhausted, with less than a day left to live if they didn't find him.
And the kidnappers had threatened to make Gabe watch her die first.
The realization made her stomach drop. They'd use her as a weapon against him. Would torture Gabe by hurting her before they killed David. The cruelty of it was terrifyingly calculated.
Lord, protect David. And don't let me be the reason Gabe loses his brother.
No answer came except the sound of tires on asphalt and the distant crash of waves.
Twenty minutes later, she pulled into the church parking lot and maneuvered the van back into its spot between the other two. Perfect placement, like it had never left, except for the wires dangling below the ignition…and the beer smell.
Sorry, Pastor Ben. Emergency situation. I'll explain later. Maybe.
Gabe swung his SUV to a stop in front of her. They made it back to the bakery in record time.
The windows glowed warm with light. Through the glass, she could see everyone already there. Tom at his laptop. Piper pacing. Reagan organizing something on the counter. Wade's truck parked out back.
They'd come. All of them. In the middle of the night.
Because this was what family did.
Cara's throat tightened. Six months of keeping everyone at arm's length. Maintaining careful distance. Protecting herself by staying isolated. Believing that caring about people would only lead to loss and pain.
These people had shown up anyway.
She pushed through the door.
The bakery fell quiet.
Tom looked up from his laptop, analytical eyes taking in her beer-soaked clothes and exhausted expression. Piper stopped mid-sentence, teenage face anxious. Reagan set down her coffee with careful control, reading the tension in Cara's posture.
Wade leaned against the back wall, silent guardian watching everyone and everything.
"Whew. You smell like a brewery." Reagan’s eyes narrowed as she leaned in toward Cara, staring into her eyes. "Are you okay?"
"Long story. I'm fine." Cara's voice came out steadier than she felt.
"She's sober," Wade confirmed. "The beer's all external." He jutted his chin at the others. “I filled them in.”
Gabe acknowledged Wade with a tilt of the head and set his phone on the table, turned it so everyone could see.
The photo loaded—David, alive, today's newspaper beside him.
Piper's hand flew to her mouth. Tom leaned forward, shock and analysis warring across his features.
Reagan's face had gone pale. "They threatened Cara specifically."
Cara forced herself to keep breathing. "Apparently I'm leverage."
"This is—" Piper's voice broke. "This is real. They're really going to kill him."
"Not if we find him first," Wade said, tone carrying the absolute certainty of someone who'd dealt with worse situations and survived.
Tom was already typing, fingers flying across the keyboard. "Can I see the phone? I need to analyze the metadata. Track the number if possible."
Gabe handed it over without hesitation.
"Concrete walls suggest industrial location," Tom muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "Coastal, probably, based on the water damage pattern—"
The weight of that timeline settled over the room like a suffocating blanket.
Gabe stood at the head of the table, looking at each person in turn. His brother's photo glowing on the screen. Hands clenched into fists at his sides. Face showing every bit of the desperate fear and determination warring inside him.
"So what do we do?" Piper asked, voice small but steady.
"We find him," Gabe said simply. "And then we get him back."
"Wait." Piper's voice was small but determined. "What if you just... do what they want? Leave town. Stop investigating. They said they'd let your brother go."
The question hung in the air. The obvious solution no one had voiced yet.
Gabe's expression went dark. "They're not going to let him go."
"But they said—"
"They lied, sweetie. Bad guys do that." Wade's tone was flat. "They can't afford to release him. He's seen too much. Knows too much. David walks free, he goes straight to federal authorities with everything he's documented."
Reagan nodded. "The minute you're out of town, David becomes a liability they eliminate."
A cold certainty settled in Cara’s chest. "So do I. That threat wasn't just about making Gabe comply. That was—"
"Insurance," Gabe finished, voice rough. "You're a witness too. You were at the warehouse. The tavern. They know you're helping me." His hands clenched. "Even if I left, they'd come for both of you eventually."
The weight of that realization settled over everyone.
"So compliance isn't an option," Reagan said, making it a statement rather than a question.
"No." Gabe's voice carried absolute certainty. "The only way David survives this is if we find him first. The only way any of us survive is if we end this."
Silence filled the bakery. Heavy. Suffocating.
Wade pushed off from the wall. "So we end it."